Will a fitness routine affect my sexual life? (and other popular questions answered)…

With its myriad
benefits, a fitness routine is one of the best things you can add to your life.
Yet whether you’re a seasoned athlete or a first-timer, there’s always more to
learn. Here are some of your common questions answered.

Will a fitness routine affect my sexual
life?

It’s the million dollar
question, and one of the reasons people work out in the first place.

The good news? Studies
suggest that lifting weights boosts testosterone levels in both men and women,
and that this effect is felt most keenly after a gym session. Increased levels
of testosterone can boost feelings of wellness and confidence, and lead to a
bigger libido too.

However, too much cardio
can do the opposite. Losing weight too fast, or too intensely, can actually
kill your desire to have sex.

In the end, ensure you
get enough rest and enough food to fuel whatever it is you’re doing in the gym.

Is a morning workout better than an
evening workout?

Not necessarily. Both
have their pros and cons, as we’ll explore below.

Morning workouts

Studies suggest that working
out before you’ve had your first meal of the day helps the body burn fat
best. That’s because you’re jumpstarting your metabolism, and accelerating
it for the day. Working out a few hours before you go to bed won’t give you
the same results.

On the flipside, morning
workouts are also riskier. Your body is in a fasted state, your muscles
are stiff, and you’re more likely to burn yourself out or get injured. Be
particularly careful about the distances you run on an empty stomach.

Evening workouts

Your body temperature is higher
in the evening and your muscles are warm. You’ll have more strength and
more endurance, and you’ll be able to burn off some of the stress of the
work day.

One of the major negatives? By
ramping up your metabolism close to bedtime, you might struggle to fall
asleep. Try meditation an hour before you go to sleep to combat this.

How should I kick start my running
(fitness) after a long injury layoff?

Any time you pound the
roads for extended periods of time or hit the treadmill hard, you’re liable to
pick up an injury.

Commonly, knees are the
first to feel the effects. Iliotibial band syndrome (IT band syndrome) is a
particularly pervasive problem that causes pain of the outer knee due to an inflammation
of the connective tissue running from knee to thigh. Though nothing is broken,
the pain is severe enough to put runners out of action for months at a
time.

(Stay tuned for a
follow-up article that examines this injury in more detail).

However, assuming you’ve
rested sufficiently and you’ve healed up, it’s time to get started again.

The question is, how?

Well, the worst thing
you can do is immediately embark on a long, strenuous run. If you’ve suffered
from IT band syndrome — or any injury at all — you’re only risking
re-aggravation.

The key here is to keep
distances short at first, because a lengthy run is actually more damaging
than an intense sprint.

On a treadmill,
alternate between 4 minutes of running and a minute of rest, repeating for
20-30 minutes. Do this for two weeks, then kick yourself into a higher gear and
try a 3 mile run without any breaks. If you get through that without any pain,
you’re free to start slowly upping the distance you go.